She considers neuroscience more reliable than folk psychology.
Latest News
Welcome to our archive of news stories relevant to the project of fighting fashionable nonsense. The stories are drawn from the electronic pages of the world’s media. On this page, you’ll find links to those stories that have been featured on Butterflies and Wheels during the current year. At the bottom of the page, you’ll find links to separate archives of stories from previous years.
We’re always pleased to hear about news stories that you think should be featured on Butterflies and Wheels. Just send an email here, if you want to point one out to us.
A note about links
Inevitably links go out of date. We suggest, therefore, that you make hard-copies of the stories that particularly interest you.
Julian Baggini notes it’s not easy being atheist in the US
Feb 4th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
In a nation that celebrates freedom of religion like no other, freedom not to be religious at all can be as hard to exercise as the right to swim the Atlantic.
Subject opinion to coercion: whom will you make your inquisitors?
Feb 4th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Members of UCLASH were not reposting the cartoon to reoffend, but to reaffirm that if the freedom to speak means anything, it means the freedom to say things that people do not like.
Bath Christian group’s ‘God can heal’ adverts banned
Feb 4th, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Advertising Standards Authority said leaflet that says “Need Healing? God can heal today!” is misleading. Group said it’s just normal Christian belief.
US: one town’s war on gay teenagers
Feb 3rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“LGBTQ students don’t feel safe at school. They’re made to feel ashamed of who they are. They’re bullied. And there’s no one to stand up for them, because teachers are afraid of being fired.”
Marc Stephens threatens Popehat some more
Feb 3rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Out of the blue, Stephens sends Popehat a message saying, “I see you’re obsessed with me.”
BBC on Justin Griffith and Rock Beyond Belief
Feb 3rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Prior to planning the concert, he registered his complaints against the army’s spiritual fitness test, a campaign that he continues.
Heavenly beings and astral forces: the real meaning of ‘social pedagogy’
Feb 3rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
‘Social pedagogy’ has its roots in anthroposophy, which holds that children – and adults with learning and developmental disabilities – exist partly in the spirit world.
Ridiculous dispute over Koran exhibition
Feb 3rd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Kirklees Muslim Action Committee says Ahmadiyya Muslim Association has “no right to put on an exhibition about the Qur’an” because blah blah blah.
The Economist talks to Nick Cohen
Feb 2nd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nick mentions Does God Hate Women?
Philip Kitcher on Derek Parfit on what matters
Feb 2nd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Asking how we might make sense of ethical truth and ethical knowledge can be a valuable initial step toward discovering what ought to be done or what is worth cherishing.
Richard Dawkins on reading Nick Cohen after Jaipur
Feb 2nd, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Not only do the affronted themselves kick up an almighty fuss; they are abetted and encouraged by influential figures from other religions and the liberal establishment.
Protests mar Taslima Nasreen book launch in Calcutta
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Nasreen has faced protests at the launch of her latest memoir, with an event at the Calcutta Book Fair cancelled.
Indian cartoonist charged with treason for mocking the state
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
His accusers argue that while it is permissible to make fun of politicians, you cannot make fun of the state.
Skeptic lawyer on equal marriage in Scotland
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Labour’s Johann Lamont, Ruth Davidson of the Conservatives, Willie Rennie of the Lib Dems and the Greens’ Patrick Harvie signed a pledge expressing their backing for gay marriage.
The ethics of offence at LSE
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
We firmly believe that the LSESU has no right to ban freedom of expression, and if anything is deserving of ridicule, satire, and contempt religion is a sure candidate.
ASA Adjudication on Healing on the Streets-Bath
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
ASA told HOTS not to make claims which stated or implied that, by receiving prayer from their volunteers, people could be healed of medical conditions.
Theocracy flexing its muscles in Indiana
Feb 1st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
First a bill allowing creationism to be taught in public schools; now a bill to allow public schools to start the day with a Christian prayer.
Hanif Kureishi reviews Nick Cohen’s You Can’t Read This Book
Jan 31st, 2012 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
What is crucial is that the quarrel is not closed; and to see that closing quarrels is what lifeless ideologies do.
